Lil' Kim

Rapper / Convict

Born: 11 July 1975 (?)

Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York

Best known as: The controversial female rapper of "No Time"

Name at birth: Kimberly Denise Jones

One of the few female stars in hardcore rap, Lil' Kim is known just as much for her tangles with the law, censors, and fashion police. She got her start with the help of Notorious B.I.G. and rappers Junior M.A.F.I.A.. She went solo in 1996 with the album Hard Core, which included the rap hit "No Time," a duet with Sean "Puffy" Combs. She quickly grew notorious for her sexually explicit lyrics and revealing clothes, and the almost-breast-baring outfit she wore to the 1999 MTV Video Awards gave her new fame. In 2005 she was convicted of lying to a federal grand jury about a 2001 shooting outside a Manhattan radio station. She was fined $50,000 and served 10 months in federal prison as inmate 56198-054 before being released in July of 2006. Her albums include The Notorious K.I.M. (2000), The Naked Truth (2005) and Ms. G.O.A.T. (2008). She has also dabbled in acting, appareing in the Rachael Leigh Cook film She's All That (1999) and Ben Stiller's 2001 comedy Zoolander, and Gang of Roses (2003).

Extra credit: Lil' Kim shared a Grammy in 2002 with Christina Aguilera, Pink and Mya. The four re-recorded the classic 1970s single "Lady Marmalade" for the soundtrack to the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge... "G.O.A.T." stands for Greatest Of All Time; the phrase has often been used by boxer Muhammad Ali... Her year of birth is unclear. Most sources say 1975, but some contend that federal prison records say she was born in 1974... Lil' Kim is sometimes confused with fellow female rapper Foxy Brown.